Berry Punch and the Quest for Genealogy · 1:03am Jan 12th, 2021
Blog Number 126: "Friendship is the Wine of Life" Edition
Did you know that "Procrastination is the thief of time" originally came from the 18th-century poem "The Complaint: or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality" by Edward Young? And that the same poem gives us the line "Friendship's the wine of life"?
Shockingly, this is relevant to today's blog topic. Except for the time theft. Sorry: no time-travelling Berry Punch here.
Don't matter where, don't matter when: the party ain't happenin' till she gets there.
Firstly, a brief progress report:
Started creative writing again yesterday, after a 26-day gap of no creative writing whatsoever. Getting an Equestria Girls fic going (partly on the basis that I could afford to branch out a tad): a little bit of drama involving Wallflower Blush, everyone's favourite memory-stealing inferiority complex with the bad hair that looks like overgrown grass.
Commence fan theory that Wallflower Blush is a literal plant person.
At least it's something, but I hope this doesn't lead to another long gap of nothing much.
As for Berry Punch?
Meanwhile, I tried setting up a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic short story on the side to tide me over, only for that to blow out of all proportion and end up looking like another longfic in the making. It was originally supposed to be a little drama practice involving a little-used background character - Berry Punch - and my various attempts at constructing a family tree for her out of virtually nonexistent canon clues, since what do you expect for background ponies? That's complete with all the complications that mishmash entails.
For one thing, notice this character?
According to the mlp wikia, she's little more than a Berry Punch with wings, making a random appearance at the end of "Fall Weather Friends" way back in Season One, and possibly also in a crowd shot for "Suited for Success" right afterwards (and, based on a few details from Berry Punch's own page, possibly elsewhere, such as a background shot in "Rainbow Falls"). Likely an inconsequential animator's error, or just a random crowd filler like all the other pegasus versions of established non-pegasus characters (Doc and Bon Bon are also card-carriers).
So of course, in the finest traditions of fandom overextrapolation, I'm taking her as her own entity, exaggerating her one scene of (circumstantially explicable) tiredness into a character trait, and making her the mother of Berry Punch. Because I can.
There is a story attached to that idea, but suffice it to say that this would be self-spoilers, and so I'll content myself to say that it'll involve figuring out how Ruby Pinch - a background filly often associated with Berry Punch - fits into all this. I mean, as far as I can tell, their only association comes from that one bit in "Bridle Gossip" where Berry pulls Ruby back indoors to hide from Zecora.
Seriously, though, what was Ruby's plan here?
We've got stronger evidence that a background filly called Piña Colada is her sister, and some might point to "Brotherhooves Social" to debunk that (personally, I'll stick with the original interpretation).
Pictured: The real heroes of the Sisterhooves Social.
To say nothing of "drunk Berry Punch" stemming mostly from one drinking-from-the-punch-bowl gag in "Call of the Cutie". Oh, and also M. A. Larson remembering it in "Slice of Life", of course:
Note that she's the only one totally chill with being hijacked by a DJ's party-mobile.
Then there's also her grape-stomping scene with Cherry Berry from "On Your Marks", which all but confirms my idea of her specialty being in the drinks-making business. Also, her inability to put up a sign of appropriate length with Carrot Top/Golden Harvest in "Swarm of the Century" ("We couldn't fit it all in!" Note the "we" there), associating her with another background earth mare. Also also, her apparent Pinkie-fangirling (and later Twilight-fangirling) in "Fame and Misfortune" (an episode with little else going for it beside background character notes), which fits fine: I like the idea that some background characters broadly fit around a "Main Six type", and Berry Punch seems as good a candidate as any for a Pinkie-type, given the obvious Dionysian/Bacchanalian connection with grapes and drinks...
See, when I randomly make a pegasus revision her mother, at least give me credit for following established tradition here of making much out of virtually nothing. Hay, Prrrresto! 
No joke: I based Berry Punch's obsession over Daring Do on this one costume from "Luna Eclipsed". I do that sort of thing a lot.
It's honestly not intended to be all that sophisticated a story - this was only meant to serve as a writing exercise to tide me over - but part of that involves marshalling relevant details for a useful character construction exercise. Although it's nice to build a character from the ground up, it's very nice to have some foundations on which to build!
Gosh, I remember - years ago - when going crazy with background characters was such a common occurrence in the pony fandom. Vaguely wonder if I'm some kind of dinosaur by this point (or a platypus, since they're the last surviving member of an extremely ancient group? Maybe an echidna?).
Anyway, that's the sort of thing I'm up to writing-wise at the moment. Don't quote me on any of this stuff, as I'm very much fumbling in the dark when it comes to publishable material, but I'd like to see some signs I can finish what I start.
Until next time! Impossible Numbers, out.
...and what would your nightmare be, Berry Punch...?
Commence?
As for excitement over background ponies, I think the fandom just hit Dunbar's Number. Once the animators stopped reusing the same stable of stand-ins, the diversity grew too great to keep track of, and each one had even less to work with than before. It is a shame.
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Darn, it's really hard to come up with original ideas, isn't it? All right: she's a pod person.
Heheh, "stable".
Seems plausible to me: the lists of ponies on the mlp wikia have grown massive over time, and some background characters still don't even have fan names.
Imagine, though, what the creativity of the fandom - the same one that spawned hundreds of fics for Ponyville's background cast - could come up with, if turned on the Manehattan regulars, Las Pegasus tourists, desert ponies, or Canterlot crowd. Ah well...
As I've been revving back up my fanfic engine lately, I'm starting to realize that these old ways are still quite viable. Yes I do remember nitpicking tiny details and spinning whole fics out of them, even if I missed the heyday of that practice by a year or two. Fact is, though, there are vast amounts of untapped characters, details, etc., that are still ripe for the picking. Say what one might about the later seasons, but by then the showrunners knew we were into it, and they were adding still more detail for us to look through.
There are vast vistas yet to be explored. Glad to hear Berry is inspiring you with a few of them.
Coincidently recently InuHoshi decided that Berry Punch, Cherry Berry, and Cheerilee are cousins.
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Based on the suggestive glimpses of data my next blog provided, I think the practice has become somewhat unfashionable in recent years. The most popular background ponies - in terms of number of fics produced over time - appear to have declined in popularity pretty strongly since the fandom's peak.
Not that I mind, much. I like a niche market.
Rest assured I've made lists elsewhere. Taking notes and kicking names! Or something...
She's not the only one who's been on my mind as of late; I'm looking at the Time Action Glory Challenge again.
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Interesting: Cherry and Berry I can see being related, but Cheerilee's a bit of an odd one out. I wonder...